The Hurricane
by shrewbuddy
Summary: Percy and his sister, Sarah, have had a deep connection with one another since their days at camp, but after Percy and Poseidon are kidnapped by their crazed half-brother, Sarah is going to have to step up the plate to save her family. All the while, she must save her mortal friends from the devastation of Triton's plan - a category 5 hurricane sent to destroy the Texas gulf coast.
1. Elite

**_Hullo, everyone! Wow, I haven't updated anything in so long! I get distracted so easily, but this year, since it's a very special year to me, I'm determined to finish all the fanfics I've started, right after I finish this one! I hope you like it, it's based off a dream that I've been having about myself and a couple of friends that I have. Enjoy!_**

* * *

SARAH

* * *

If anything had been taken from learning about Percy's adventures, it was that life wasn't very easy for the children of Poseidon. I noted this through personal experience a long while ago without Percy's help. I had only been to Camp Half-Blood for one summer, the summer after Percy had defeated Kronos. But that was four years ago, and Percy hadn't seen me since. Fortunately, being part of an elite and exclusive group of demigods, we always kept in contact.

So, I wasn't surprised to see an Iris-message floating over my bed when I got home from work at the grocery store. Percy's sea green eyes were shining in the mist, and I couldn't help but smile at him. He looked older than when I last saw him at the beginning of the summer, more worn than usual. He also wasn't in a Cabin Three which was what struck me the most out of place. Percy was always at camp now, spending all the time he could with Annabeth.

"Sarah," he said his voice bubbly from being underwater. "Thank the gods."

"Percy," I whispered, careful not to wake my mother. "What, what is going on?" I sat down on my bed, putting my phone down on the bed and throwing my bag against my bed.

Percy still couldn't help but smile at the sound of his little sister's voice. "It's so good to see you again." He reached out at the Iris-message, which just made the mist blurry. "But I'm not just making a house call."

I froze. Why else would Percy call me?

"I need you to turn on Hephaestus TV, right now. It's really important." The fear and pain in his voice was obvious, but it was something that I had never heard in this voice before. Something was scaring him, and even though he was the older sibling in our situation, I still felt obligated to protect him from anything that spooked him.

I grabbed my phone and clicked on my app for Hephaestus TV. Ever since one of the Athena children had found a way to modify and regulate the amount of flare that a cell phone gave off, a lot of demigods had grown cautiously close to technology and the internet. Hephaestus also began to design apps for the demigods who did carry around smartphones so that the gods could stay in contact with us demigods a lot easier, but so far the only people to carry around smartphones were Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and I.

As it loaded, a recent breaking news clip showed up on the home page, and when I clicked on it, I heard an explosion on Percy's end of the Iris-message. I dropped my phone at the noise, and it plopped down on the bed with a satisfying _thump! _But it was nothing like the blast in Poseidon's realm.

"Percy?" I yelled out. "Percy, where are you?" He had disappeared from the mist, and I was panicking, feeling helpless.

It wasn't a voice that I heard very often, but I would recognize it anywhere. "Percy! He is here, now!"

Percy came back into view, Riptide in his hand. "Sarah," he started. The connection started to get fuzzy, and his voice crackled into static. "Listen carefully, Hephaestus' report should explain everything. You have to be careful! He is after us, he wants our power."

"Power? What are you talking about, Percy?"

"Please, be careful! Once he gets me, you're the only other person that he could possibly go after!"

In the background, I could hear loud smashing and crashing and my father yelling Percy's name. Smashing through the wall, a man was standing, menacingly, with Poseidon in his grip, dead weight in the water. It was a man that I had only seen once, in my only time to Poseidon's Underwater Realm. He had dark hair like Percy and me, but it was long and pulled back into a ponytail. His bright kelp green eyes shone with anger.

"Percy Jackson," Triton said. "I've been looking forward to our meeting."

"Cut the connection, Sarah," Percy said.

Triton turned his attention to the Iris-message. "Ah, sister, so good to see you again."

"Triton," I growled. "What do you want with our family?"

"Oh, you'll see soon enough," he slithered. "But for now, Percy is coming with me. Sorry to cut your call short."

I saw Percy cautiously walking towards Triton. "I won't let you touch her," he said confidently. "You won't get to her."

Triton chuckled and tossed my father to the side. He was quickly picked up by a chariot, driven by spearfish. Triton lifted his trident to Percy's sword. Percy looked worried, as was I. Anyone who could knock out a god as powerful as our father was someone to be scared of, and Triton could evoke fear just by walking into a room.

"Sarah, run," Percy whispered.

Triton chuckled. "You won't get far."

I saw Percy mumble something, and the connection cut off as Percy charged at Triton, Anaklusmos raised high.

"No!" I yelled as the mist dissolved. "Percy!"

_Hephaestus' report should explain everything._

I picked up my phone, which had already loaded Hephaestus' news report. The video buffered for a few seconds, and then it started playing. Behind Hephaestus was a small map of my area of Texas, the gulf coast. A weather-in-motion diagram was off to the side, showing the gulf coast with a developing tropical storm.

Hephaestus' gruff voice came in through my thoughts. "Is this‒Is this thing on? Hmph, ok." He dusted his suit off, and started his report. "A tropical disturbance has been reported developing in the gulf coast. Now, this wouldn't be a problem really if this hurricane were developed by Poseidon, er uh, one of his demigod children. But it isn't. After some research on Poseidon's part, Triton has been seen as the source of this disturbance. And now, after Poseidon has taken away his powers to control the waves and sea, he is searching for the demigod children of Poseidon to make his hurricane.

His goal? A category 5 hurricane to completely destroy the gulf coast. With such a big city of mortals and demigods alike so near by the coast, we are setting this as an alert, and all demigods in that area are to help evacuate as many people as they can when the National Weather Service issues the order to the mortals."

"Oh, no," I murmured.

I clicked on the live link to an update he was giving. "Demigod daughter of Poseidon, who lives in the area, will be informed to try to calm the storm. Unfortunately, we have just received word that both Poseidon, god of the sea, and his, er, 'prodigal' son, Percy Jackson, have both been kidnapped by Triton. Everyone in the area should remain calm; we will bring you news when we have it." Hephaestus' cool posture in front of the camera dropped, and he said, "Alright, let's hope that this demigod knows what she's doing…"

The camera shut off.

I dropped my phone back on the bed, and it made the same satisfying _thump_. Percy was gone, and by the looks of it, so was our father, and now, Triton was on his way to get me to form his huge category 5 hurricane. I threw myself down on my bed and yelled into my pillow.

A typical summer for a typical 'elite' demigod.


	2. Not Again

**Well, here's chapter two. :) Had to change some names due to the fact that this is based off a dream with real people in it. I know it's strange when the fanfiction is about people who aren't related to the Percy Jackson series at all, but once you get passed all this filler/introduction/plot and character development, it gets better. Honestly, the person that Jack is based off of wouldn't act like this, but he happens to be my favorite character to write with. And I'm sure that if "Jack" reads it, he'll automatically know it's him by two lines in this whole chapter.**

**I'm gonna shut up now. Enjoy! (Ps: I like reviews! ;)**

* * *

JACK

* * *

"I don't believe you, Sarah," I told her as I stomped out of the bedroom and into the hallway. My anger was contained due to my sleeping sister just around the corner.

I heard her stomp her foot loudly on the other end of the phone. "By the gods, Jack, you've got to believe me!" Her voice was panicked. She was completely under the impression that our small town on the gulf coast was in danger. Being the middle of summer, we were well into hurricane season, and Sarah was trying to convince me that a deadly hurricane was on its way to destroy us. But right now, the only tropical depression forming in the gulf wasn't even a tropical storm yet.

I paused at the base of the staircase, regarding her fear. "It's just too farfetched, Sarah…" But no matter how insane she sounded, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Sarah's fear of this harebrained idea of hers was real. I was never good at making her feel better; I knew that since I met her three years ago in high school when she was just a young and strange freshman.

But for some reason, I still always tried.

"Sarah…Everything will be ok. This tropical depression isn't even strong enough to blow _us_ down. You're just acting scared because you're afraid of thunderstorms." I sighed, imaging how terrified the little thunder-phobic was feeling, but also thinking about the time the power went out at school and the little freshman ended up in my lap.

She was quiet for a while, like she could sense the tension. "Jack…" Her voice broke at my name, and when it did, my heart got a little heavy. Was she crying? What had I done to upset her? I didn't like to upset people, especially someone I considered a friend.

"You just don't understand," she continued. "I'm just trying to protect you."

"I do understand," I replied, "but there's nothing to protect me from." I hesitated. "I know that you want to 'protect' me‒" I felt the heat rise to my face ‒ "but‒"

She cut me off. "No, Jack, no. It's not like that."

I knew she was extremely attracted to me and, with her work schedule and my busy days of playing Xbox and getting distracted by online blogging, we hadn't seen each other since I watched one of my best friends walk the stage, and Sarah had become a senior at the toss of a cap. At first, I thought that it was a ploy for me to spend time with her all alone, while her fears taunted her with every drop of rain outside and every flash of lightning in the window.

It wasn't that I had never thought about her that way. She was a remarkable person, inside and out. She had long, dark curly hair that was always down, and she had deep brown eyes that always glistened like she could cry at any moment. But her personality was what appealed to me. She was smart, but not overly smart to where she flaunted it (much like myself), and she was always happy. The only time that I had seen her unhappy was when she lost someone that she loved very much… He didn't die; he just ruined their friendship and relationship.

In fact, I had not heard her voice break like that since that incident.

I normally never did anything rash. I was a very good kid, well-mannered. But I didn't see anything well-mannered about leaving my mother a note saying, "Gone to Sarah's, I'm sorry, but she needs help. Don't know when I'll be back. Call me when you're up." But this was Sarah I was talking about. She was falling apart, and I wasn't going to let her fall apart again.

_No, not again._

I was silent as I walked into the garage and out to the driveway, grabbing the keys to my truck. "I'll be over there in a second, alright?" I said, breaking the silence.

"What?" she said alarmed. "Hon, it's late."

I started the truck, and I took a deep breath, still teetering on the idea of staying or leaving. "I'll call you when I'm outside."

And I hung up, starting my way into town where she lived.

Sarah never lived in the best of neighborhoods in our small town, as far as I knew. The two apartment complexes that I had gone to drop her off at home made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Unfortunately, her apartment was in the very back of this complex in the older buildings, which made it just a tad more eerie.

After parking, I got out of my truck and walked out in front of her door. I wondered what it looked like to the out-of-context eye: a seemingly attractive young man, standing at the apartment door of an eligible young lady's doorstep in the late night. I tapped a text message to her, telling her that I was here, but as it sent, she opened the door.

"Come in," she said. "Take a seat." She motioned to the couch on the wall, facing the small TV on a desk. I sat down on the far right end and silently looked around. I couldn't help but notice that she had showered, and there was a slight smell of her shampoo in the air. She was in pajamas and a T-shirt. All in all, she looked comfortable, but her eyes told a different story.

She looked like she had been crying, profusely, and her eyes were stretched and wrinkled from rubbing them. She was pacing around her apartment, cleaning random things and wiping the countertops so much, I was sure she'd take the glossy finish off of them. The apartment seemed oddly quiet, and I realized by the feeling of it that we were alone.

"Where is your mom?" I asked. Sarah's mother rarely left the house, and on the rare occasion that she did, it was never at night.

"She's gone to stay with family in Houston, where she can ride out the storm in peace," Sarah said, throwing the towel on the counter and walking to sit next to me on the couch. She pulled her long hair back into a ponytail, and it was one of the few times that I had seen it back. She had a small, short neck, and I could faintly see her collarbone.

Her question caught me off guard. "Jack, do you trust me?"

I hesitated, not because I didn't trust her, but because I was afraid of what would follow my telling her that I did. "Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"I have something very important to tell you. But you have to trust me when I say that I'm not crazy, and that this isn't a lie."

She looked like she was about to faint; she had the expression of a messenger with bad news, like she was about to tell me my puppy was dead, or that I had gotten a "B" on my math quiz. "Ok, I guess I owe you that much."

She leaned forward and placed her open palm on my knee, and I remembered each time she had placed it there before. I wasn't sure why the memory was so vivid, or why I remembered it now of all times that she had touched my knee. There was something changing about Sarah, my opinion of her, my attitude towards her.

It was driving me insane.

"Ok," she breathed. She took in a deep breath, and in a small voice, she whispered, "I'm a demigod."

I stopped breathing for a moment. "A demigod? Like from myths and such?"

She nodded. "My father is Poseidon, god of the seas, and I am the only demigod daughter of his." She played with the bottom of her T-shirt, twirling it up on her finger. "I'm originally from Houston, yes, but before I officially moved here, I attended a camp in New York called Camp Half-Blood."

I drank in all the information. Was that possible? For a person to by part god, and part human? And if so, was it possible for one to be right in front of me at this very moment, caressing my knee slightly? I was opened to the idea; I was always opened to the idea of magic in the world.

But this was real?

She must have seen the doubt on my face because she said, "I can prove it to you." I glared up at her, and she was already looking into my eyes.

She motioned her hand to a glass of water that was set on the dining room table. "Watch," she whispered. As she closed her eyes, I slowly saw the water come up from the glass and float high above it. She brought it over her pants and let the water touch them slightly. But when she removed it, they were still dry.

I couldn't believe anything that I was seeing.

And then to make it worse, Sarah started crying. "My brother has been kidnapped, and his captor is on his way to steal me as well. The only two human children of Poseidon, two of the most powerful people in the world… To create some of the most powerful evil in the world."

"That's how you know about the tropical depression becoming a hurricane," I said incredulously.

She nodded and retracted her hand from my knee. "I've never been more scared in my life. I wasn't part of the last war; I've never led anyone in my life or protected anyone. That was a job for my brother, and now he's the one that I have to save. And if I fail, thousands, maybe even millions of people, could die…"

I patted her shoulder lightly and brought an arm around her. "Hey, everything will be ok, just like I told you." I hesitantly wiped a tear from her cheek, and the tear was quickly replaced by a hot blush.

We were quiet for a few minutes, and then she broke the silence. "I should get to bed…" She slowly leaned off of me. "A few more minutes, and I'll fall asleep on you."

I chuckled lightly. "Wouldn't want that, would we?" _Or did we?_

Her next word came out almost as a plead. "Stay."

I had figured that she would ask me to stay when I had left my house, but whether I agreed or not was a different story. I looked at her bloodshot eyes and her tired expression. She was completely worried and scared, and even though I was never good at making her feel better, I always tried.

"I'll stay," I said, the words foreign in this context.

Her expression changed to shock, and she curled up on the opposite side of the couch. It wasn't soon after she did that I heard her snoozing softly. I walked to her room and grabbed a blanket to cover her. I brushed a small lock of hair from her eye, and as I laid back down on the couch recliner, I tried to process all that she had said.

Sarah had so much power inside of her, there because of her amazing heritage, but she still looked like the innocent girl I knew, curled up against the couch's leathery hold.


	3. Marimba

_**So, sorry that it's kinda late, but I did keep my promise, here it is today! :D At 11:53 at night. xD I have to wake up in about six hours... But I hope you like it. I edited it as best that I can so sorry if there some mistakes in there. I'm tired! As promised, a little Percabeth. Poor Percy, he can't catch a break. And a little Sarah/Jack stuff too. :D**_

* * *

SARAH

* * *

I woke up to the subtle smell of warm apple cinnamon and the drone of my microwave running. My eyes were glued shut, pasted by the residue of my tears, and I could feel the unsightly bags that had settled on my face. I shuffled a blanket down to my feet and swung them over onto the cold tile. It wasn't a second before my feet hit the ground that I heard Jack's unmistakable voice.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of making breakfast for the two of us," he said warmly from the kitchen.

When I steadied myself, I looked to the dining table to see a small bowl of oatmeal and a bagel, which was heavily coated with strawberry cream cheese. It wasn't until I saw the seemingly appetizing meal that I realized how hungry I was. Unfortunately, my stomach was twisting in a knot recalling why Jack was here in my apartment.

In my depressed stupor, I had almost begged Jack to stay with me, and when he agreed, I was so embarrassed at the thought of him seeing me sleep and being so close to him as he slept, but I was too tired to protest my abrupt lapse in judgment.

I walked to the table just as Jack pulled his bowl of oatmeal from the microwave. He sat down quietly as I nibbled on my bagel.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

I stared at him with an empty expression. "Not well," I whispered. "How did you?"

"I slept well." He stared into my eyes, and I broke away, feeling uncomfortable looking into his eyes. He had these deep blue eyes that I always found myself lost in, and I could never look into them for more than a couple of seconds. His eyes reminded me of the ocean I was banned from since Poseidon tried to pull me into a rip current when I was 12.

We ate in silence, and from time to time, I would look up to catch him staring at me. It scared me how much Jack had changed since he had been at college. Two years older than me, he was so much smarter than I ever would have dreamed to be, and he had this way with words that I wish I possessed. Oddly enough though, since he had come back this summer, he seemed different, like his attitude towards life had completely changed. He shocked me when he told me that he had had a few girlfriends at college.

I knew Jack to be a fairly picky guy when it came to relationships, and the girl had to fall into every criterion. As far I knew, only a select number of girls would ever fall into it, and I was certain that they all lived on a different planet where they reproduced with their minds.

I wondered if maybe he had changed his criteria, and if maybe I would fall into it now?

_What are you doing? You're trying to save your brother's life right now. You don't have time to be gunning for a relationship. Especially with Jack._

I broke the silence timidly. "How many people do you know that are in town right now?" Living in a small town, most of our friends spent their summer out of town in the major cities all around us. It was the beginning of summer, so most people would already be gone, and our town would start to look abandoned. "Anyone close to us?"

Jack's family was always in touch with the families of our good friends. They were a sociable type of family: always busy, never alone, and the house that had room for massive dinner parties. "I remember my sister saying that Aurora's family doesn't leave for another week, and Natalie and her sisters are staying at home while their parents celebrate their anniversary out of town."

He seemed calm and collected as he went down a mental list of our close friends from school. We were both a part of the band at our high school and shared a lot of the same friends. As I quietly spooned the last of my oatmeal, he took in a short gasp, and I nearly dropped my spoon. "What?" I said shocked.

He shook his head. "You won't like it." I raised an eyebrow, and he breathed deeply. "Joseph and his family don't go to Lubbock for another week and a half."

I stopped breathing when I heard his name, the boy who had fed my heart through a meat grinder. Even though it had been a year since we had broken up and I had spent a whole year with him at school, it was still hard to picture myself hanging out with him and Jack, just as we had before we dated and ruined everything.

He said that I had changed… Little did he know, my brother was going into war again, and the only place that I had ever felt at home was completely in ruins. Annabeth, who was like a sister to me, was currently dying, and the Romans were invading, even though we had worked together to defeat Gaea in Rome.

Added to the fact that I was a demigod trying to pass off a normal life, I think I had the right to go a little crazy.

Jack broke my train of thought. "We can't just leave him because of what he did. He's still our friend."

I shook my head out of my heartbroken daze. "Of course we can't," I said smiling. "You think I would do that?" I hesitated. "Jack, I wouldn't let him die."

He nodded softly, and from my room I heard the light Marimba ring of my phone. I got up from the table, lightly jogging to catch the phone, and when I looked at the screen, I saw the name I had been anticipating since Hephaestus' last news report.

Annabeth.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Sarah," she said. "Where are you? Have you heard the news?"

I explained to her everything that I knew, everything that Percy had told me, and what I heard from Hephaestus' news report. "I'm fine," I concluded, as Jack walked into my room. "I'm doing my best to gather my close friends and keep them in a safe house. Most of the town is gone and deserted, so we needn't worry about them."

I heard Annabeth choke down a sob. "And Percy?"

I told her about the night that I had gotten home from work and how Percy had Iris-messaged me about Triton. "I don't know how Percy is, Annabeth," I admitted. "Triton isn't a forgiving and loving brother, though. It's not like he's going to let me text him on weekends." I swallowed my sarcasm. "Annabeth, I'm going to get him back, I promise."

"Your brother just attracts danger," Annabeth whispered, "First Kronos, then Hera kidnaps him, he leads our battle against Camp Jupiter, and now your own brother is trying to suck the powers out of your bodies."

I took in a deep breath and looked at Jack who was now moving in the door. He took a seat on my bed next to me and silently put an arm around my shoulder. I couldn't help but feel the heat rise to the occasion, and my heart start to beat a little faster. I truly did like Jack, and when I thought about how the hurricane would come straight for town, the first thing that ran through my mind was to protect him and no one else. The idea of him possibly being gone forever because of something I could have prevented killed me.

Somehow I knew that was how Annabeth felt. No matter how hard she tried, she could never protect him long enough.

"I'm going to get his powers back," I promised, "and my father's."

"I'll be coming down there. Chiron thinks that it would be in your best interest to have some experience on hand when Triton comes." She hesitated. "And right now, we don't have many people to send."

Her statement raised the red flag. "What do you mean? It's summer; the camp should be overflowing with people."

She sighed. "We don't have a lot of time. Me and a rag tag team of a couple of demigods will be there to help you out tomorrow morning. Do you think that you can stall Triton from hitting the coast for that long?"

"Of course I can," I said. "Annabeth, what is going on at camp?"

I could hear the gears in her brain churning even over the phone.

"You have to tell me," I whimpered. "What is happening to camp?"

"Sarah," she started, "camp is being flooded as we speak. Since your father doesn't control the waters anymore, the Sound is attacking camp so that we can't send reinforcements to you. Chiron suspects Triton may send an army here to distract us around tomorrow evening."

I was quiet for a while as I let it sink in. Camp Half-Blood hadn't gotten a break for anything. The Romans had left most of camp in ruins after they attacked, and we had just started rebuilding it.

"I have to go," Annabeth said abruptly. "Send me the address of where you'll be staying, and I'll make it over there as soon as I can with some back up. Try to stall the hurricane until then."

"Ok," I replied lamely.

When I hung up the phone and my eyes started to water, Jack squeezed me tightly. "Everything ok?" sHe turned to look at my frowning face and my bloodshot eyes.

"No," I whispered. "Triton is declaring war on us. He's not going down without a fight." I paused. "I think you need to grab Aurora, Natalie, Joseph and your sister and get out of here."

Jack thought about it for a few seconds before saying, "No. I'm going to help you out in any way that I can. I'm not letting you go, Sarah."

I blushed, unhappy but satisfied at the same time.

"C'mon," he said, "we've got a lot of work to do."


	4. Trees

_**Ok, so, I'm sorry that it took a long time, but here it is. Chapter four. I've been really busy with a bunch of other different things, and now it's really awkward to write to this story because the person that Jack is based off of is reading it now. As the story progresses, this will get very interesting. Enjoy!**_

* * *

JACK

* * *

After Sarah cleaned up and let me borrow a spare toothbrush she had in the cabinet, we walked outside to her front patio. She locked the door behind her, silently putting a lock of her long hair behind her ear. She looked simple enough: blue jeans and an orange T-shirt, a large duffle bag slung across her shoulder.

"We're going to have to get Aurora, Natalie, and Joseph to your house somehow, along with their families if they're with them," she said, turning on her heel and looking up at the sky. "I'll go get Natalie and you can get your sister and Aurora. We'll meet up at Joseph's." She hesitated. "Something tells me he'll be less than fond of hearing this from me."

She grimaced at the sky which made me wonder what she saw. The sky was beautiful and clear, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky for miles. It was extremely difficult to believe that this place would be a war zone in less than 6 hours, which made me question everything again.

We walked our way down the sidewalk and to the parking lot, parting ways to our respective vehicles. She tossed her bag into her cubed car's trunk and threw open the car door. "Do you guys have a generator at your house?" she asked.

"Of course," I said, leaning against the bed of my truck.

Sarah shivered. "Something tells me you don't have enough food to house this many people for a while. You and I will have to stop by the store, grab some supplies and food."

"You make it sound like we'll be stranded in the woods."

Sarah got in her car, snickering. "Trust me, it'll feel like it."

Before she shut the door, I caught it. "Sarah, what exactly am I supposed to tell Aurora and her family? They're not going to believe that you're some magical waterbender demigod who's only trying to protect us from certain doom."

She smiled and pondered the question. "Tell them… 'Party at Jack's.' I'm sure they'll all be interested." She winked and shut the door of her car.

I pushed myself away from her car, and she backed out of the parking lot, making her way to the front of the complex. I chuckled at her joke and walked back to my truck. I sat in the driver's seat with my phone in my hand, checking my text messages:

_**Kayla: Hey, where are you?**_

_** Jack?**_

_** Mom's freaking out now, why are you at Sarah's?**_

_** Are you two ok?**_

_** Give us a call, please.**_

_** Jack, it's like 10 in the morning, where are you?**_

_** Mom: Jack, is everything alright? Are the two of you ok?**_

_** Where are you?**_

_** Call me now.**_

_** Going into town for some stuff, text me when you are home, please.**_

I dialed Kayla's phone number and before I could put the speaker to my ear, she had answered. "Jack?"

"No, the boogeyman," I said sarcastically.

"Not funny," she sighed in relief. "What's going on? Why have you been at Sarah's all night?"

I twiddled my thumb on my steering wheel. My sister would have to know about Sarah's heritage; I couldn't just keep this secret from her. Then again, it wasn't my secret to tell. "It's complicated," I answered. "But I'll explain it on our way to go get Aurora."

"Wait, what? Why are we getting Aurora?"

"Just be ready in 15 minutes, ok? I'm on my way." I hung up my phone and put it in my pocket. I started my truck and backed out of my parking spot, silently planning everything I was going to say to Kayla on the trip to Aurora's house.

* * *

When I pulled up in front of our house, I didn't expect Kayla to be outside, so when she jumped down from one of the trees in our front yard, I jumped slightly.

"Gosh, Kayla," I said, "what are you doing?"

She brushed her jeans and green T-shirt off and said, "I couldn't wait for this complicated explanation of yours, so I decided to wait for you outside."

"In the trees?"

"Of course," she said matter-of-factly, "where else?"

I rolled my eyes as she gracefully walked to the passenger's side and opened up the door. She was so unique, my sister, unlike most people that I knew from school. Even though she was much like me, she was still distinctive. Perhaps it had something to do with our band origin, as the stereotype goes.

"So," she said as I pulled away from the house. "What's this complicated story of yours?"

I tightened my grip on the wheel, took a deep breath, and said the first thing that came to my mind. "Well, you see, Sarah is…special."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kayla's face scrunch. "Oh, gosh, Jack, I don't need to know about _that_."

"What?" I shot. "What? No. No." I blushed. "I don't mean like that. I mean, she's a special person…to us. Well, I mean, you knew that already, but uhm. I mean, she more than a person, she's…special. A special type of person."

Kayla smirked. "And by special you mean?"

I explained to her everything that Sarah had told me about herself last night and the development of the hurricane. I told her about Triton and Percy and this girl named Annabeth and the water in the cup. She sat there quietly, drinking in everything that I told her. I guess it was a good thing that Kayla was a lot like me; I knew that she would listen, that she was open to the magic in the world.

"You're telling me that Sarah has been a demigod this entire time," she finally said.

I didn't take my eyes off the road when I nodded.

Kayla looked down at her fingers. "Why would she hide that from us?"

I hadn't thought about that. Sarah wasn't exactly our best of friends, but she was still close to us. Throughout all of her high school life, we had been there, and now, here she is, a senior, telling us her biggest life secret. Sure, there were things that Sarah didn't know about us, but she was more open to sharing than us. "I dunno," I whispered.

* * *

When Kayla and I arrived at Joseph's house, I knew trouble was already brewing. Sarah was talking the way that she did when she was angry: her arms were failing high above her head, and she talked with jerky motions. Standing in front of her was Joseph, tall and lean, his arms crossed on his chest. His body language said it all; he didn't believe anything she was saying.

I got out of the truck just in time to hear, "NO, can't you just listen to me for once in your life?" from Sarah. I walked towards them cautiously not sure how Joseph would react.

"Oh, me listen?! You're one to talk!" he retorted.

"Oh, shut up, mortal; I'm a demigod!"

I chuckled under my breath. I was proud of the way that she stood up to him, despite their past year together. From what I had heard, when I left for college, things with them went downhill, even more so than before.

Joseph looked my way. "What are you on about?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, nothing."

"Are you under the crazy impression that she's a demigod, too?" he asked, advancing towards me.

"Well, it's not crazy," I said, "I can tell you that."

He frowned. "What?"

"Of course I believe her. Saw it with my own eyes." I motioned my head towards Sarah.

Joseph looked shocked. His mouth was slightly agape as he turned back to Sarah who was juggling two spheres of water over her left hand. "Need any more proof?" she asked as the spheres evaporated.

Joseph was silent, and he looked slightly offended. "No."

Sarah's voice lowered to a growl, and I could feel the humidity rise in the air. "Listen, if you won't do it for yourself, do it for your brother, your mother, your father. I won't let something petty that happened between the two of us ruin your family." Her eyes were daggers on him, and I felt like at any moment he would start to cower, but she softened her glare and pleaded, "You have to trust me."

He backed off as he retreated back inside, and when he came out, he was trailed by his little brother. Sarah was shaking, but she still managed to reach out and hug the little scrawny boy. Tears left her eyes as she murmured something to Caleb that I didn't hear. It was touching, but I felt a shiver down my back. Something, I didn't know what, was telling me to get Sarah out of there as quickly as I could.

Someone was watching us.

I touched Sarah shoulder lightly and whispered, "We need to leave. Now."

She must have felt the same as I because she was already releasing Caleb from her grasp and telling him to get in the car. Joseph threw a couple of emergency suitcases they had in his trunk and rushed his mom and dad into the car. I caught a glare from Joseph's mother, like she was regretting accepting Sarah's crazy offer, and when she saw my hand on Sarah's shoulder, I immediately pulled away.

_Was she glaring at me? No, of course not. You're just jumpy from the shiver. Pull yourself together, man._

Caleb moved towards the car, looking back at Sarah. It surprised me how much Caleb liked Sarah even though a lot had happened between her and Joseph. I knew that Sarah had always had a soft spot for him, and she always spoiled him, probably more than she did Joseph.

She wiped away her tears and gathered Kayla into a hug. "You're here," Sarah said. "Come with me; we've got supplies to gather."

I looked at Sarah for instruction.

"Head home, follow Joseph and his family. We'll be there soon."

I still felt odd, like we were still being watched, and maybe Sarah felt it too because she jumped onto me, forcing a hug. "Be careful," she whispered.

"I will," I murmured awkwardly.

She pulled away and walked with Kayla to her car. It wasn't until my beating heart threatened to jump out of my chest and Sarah was already out of the neighborhood that I decided I had to move. The shiver still iced down my back.

Sarah wasn't being watched.

I was.


End file.
